recently purchased a skoda fabia from a 1 owner elderly gentlemen but just stumbled across this problem. Its a 2001 1.4 8V Petrol at only 20,000 genuine miles, backed up by full service history, hpi clear and all MOT records. very happy with my purchase!! Shes only been driven 20,00 miles due to it being parked for around 3 years.

i purchased it 3 weeks ago and spent a lot of time checking it over to ensure it was okay.

today i went to go check the oil to see if it was okay and realised there was that yellow mayo like stuff on the filler cap!

ive read about it and its telling me head gasket but i dont know? how do i tell its that? also read other pages saying coz its been parked up for so long that may happen

Edited 23 June, 201214 yr by thedealsealer

That's nothing. It can be caused by short journeys, which given the low mileage of the car, I think it will be. And of course with it being sat for 3 years, condensation will have formed in the engine. First port of call is to change the oil and the filter, and keep a keen eye on the coolant level.

Clean it off, drive, and enjoy.

Edited 23 June, 201214 yr by anewman

aah thank god, also a small ticking noise coming from the engine, comes on for 5 seconds, then goes off for 5 seconds and repeats.. any idea on that?

I can't imagine the ticking is much to worry about if it isn't too loud, and the engine runs fine without misfiring, loss of power or anything. Mine has a bit of a ticking noise, so hope it isn't, lol.

Something else to check for is that the engine gets up to temperature (half way on the gauge) relatively quickly. It's a common issue that the thermostats break internally which causes this.

Another thing you'll find is that when the engine is warmed up, and the idle has settled down, the engine will shake a little, almost like a misfire. This is normal for the engine. The idle is kept low in order to meet the emissions requirements of the time. The engine itself is largely based on designs dating back as far as the 60's I think.

aah right, thanks for that mate, nah the engine does not misfire or anything, gets up to temperature in around 3-4 minutes which i reckon is normal. the idle does settle down once warmed up and does not shake so thats okay too. the ticking is not very loud, cant hear it whilst car is running, only when im in front of the bonnet, ill hear it.

i do have a vag-com cable and i plugged it in to the laptop to bring up any error codes and got one error code of 17511 - oxygen (lambda) sensor heating ??

Probable cause for this code is the wiring, then the sensor itself.

SN

Always worth clearing the code first, and seeing if it returns.

Yeah I'd love to try and clear the code but I've got the free version of vcds :(

Not 100% but think you can clear the codes if you go into select control module, then engine etc. The clear all codes on the auto scan page doesn't work, even for the paid shareware version of VCDS.

As above you should be able to clear the code, you just can't hit clear all

Nice find my 2001 has 127k on the clock. TBH having the mayo there is normal on short runs. TBH even if the head gasket goes on them its not the end of the world £30ish gasket kit. 60 head skimmed (may not need but might as well). £120 ish to get a Indy to do it.

So once again not the end of the world but I don't think that's the issue IMO

Thanks for the input guys, will have a try later with the vcds, I'm a newbie to it but will have a play around with it. Thanks

Any idea on what's it worth?

I got a near identical mileage car in Feb (21k FSH Y plate 2001) and paid £1500, it had been serviced annually every 2k. I do pretty much all my own work and parts are usually supplied at mates rates via my local factor however it's since cost me another £500 in service items/parts. Highlights include two Michelin energy savers (unavoidable), angle sensor (unavoidable), doing pretty much everything in the service schedule so I knew it was done, wishbones, bushes, drop links, wheel bearing, transmission fluid and a few other misc parts). It's returning a lifetime average of 41.6mpg (14.8p/mile) but that's improving the more I use it with 44.3mpg over the last month with a total of 31.5k on the clock now.

If your car is a tool to get you from A to B then once the usual niggles are sorted it's cheap to run, easy to work on and should be reasonably reliable, that said every time I say that it throws up another little job to keep me entertained.

yes excellent, car is very reliable, not had it long but i love it. i got it off someone who just had it parked up for a very long time, only paid £900 for it, has been serviced regularly and has full MOT, got it as a bargain and does the job. only niggle is the road tax! its a 1.4 and is very expensive.. my 1.9 tdi pd130 is cheaper!!

only niggle is the road tax! its a 1.4 and is very expensive.. my 1.9 tdi pd130 is cheaper!!

And much better MPG on the TDI to match

Not 100% but think you can clear the codes if you go into select control module, then engine etc. The clear all codes on the auto scan page doesn't work, even for the paid shareware version of VCDS.

A great pity Skodas do not have the Vauxhall "Two Pedal Trick" that clears all fault codes.

Edited 25 June, 201214 yr by hussarman

only niggle is the road tax! its a 1.4 and is very expensive.. my 1.9 tdi pd130 is cheaper!!

That's because it is a pre-2003 car and isn't taxed based on it's emissions. Your PD130 is taxed based on the emissions.

As above these engines are based on a very old engine but bored out to 1.4 and with a few other tweaks here and there. They are very simple (read: easy/cheap to fix) but they are prone to condensation if used on short journeys.

Just take it for a good long run at full operating temperature from time to time.

Phil

All vehicles registered March 2001 onwards had their Vehicle Excise Duty based on emissions.

In this case I suspect thedealsealer pays £135 for 12 months

The 1.4mpi comes under band H. I just paid £195 for 12 months on my 2002 model so a year increases it by £60.

Taxing based on emissions is stoopid anyway, as you're already taxed more at the pump in a way directly relevant to emissions. Anyway I digress from original topic

Thedealsealer that's a decent price even on a private sale as from memory I paid book value without the mileage adjustment on my car and as of last month when I checked for insurance value it had hardly changed. Not sure what it is with Fabia's and elderly gent's doing 2k a year in them but i'm not complaining. While I remember when you take the plastic engine cover off check to see if you spot oil round the HG area, it's probably coming from the rocker gasket above and costs about £3 and 10 mins to fix with a new gasket, do the rubber grommets as well.

And much better MPG on the TDI to match

Fuel costs are higher, insurance is higher, brakes/tyres cost more and get replaced more often, DMF/clutch and turbo are expensive to replace, timing belt/pump to change every 60k/4yrs etc. Non of that is reflected in the mpg figures.

As my thread on cost per mile showed when others posted figures the gap between an uneconomical mpi and a TDI in terms of cost per mile (mpg is not a true reflection of cost of anything other than fuel) is minimal, you have to do a lot of trouble free miles in a TDI to actually save anything meaningful if at all, but you will have more fun

I do agree on VED being wrong, a little old lady living in a rural area who needs a 4x4 and only does 1k a year pays significantly more than a sales rep doing 30k in a lower bad VED car but the latter will pollute more. Payment via the pump is the only fair method, the VED should just be a formality required to ensure an MOT is done and could easily be scrapped all together by making it part of the MOT eg MOT station provides you with a displayable (read tax disc size) MOT/VED certificate that shows your cover is valid for 12 months, that's specific to the car do no agro for sales/trade.

All vehicles registered March 2001 onwards had their Vehicle Excise Duty based on emissions.

In this case I suspect thedealsealer pays £135 for 12 months

The 1.4mpi comes under band H. I just paid £195 for 12 months on my 2002 model so a year increases it by £60.

Taxing based on emissions is stoopid anyway, as you're already taxed more at the pump in a way directly relevant to emissions. Anyway I digress from original topic

my current tax expires in august and car was first registered in september 2001 so im in the same boat as you, £195 or £220 road tax? one of the two! car is Band H - 168 g/km

Absolutely love the car though, getting little stuff tweaked in it, im not a heavy modder, just like a decent car to get me from A to B.

also managed to clear all the fault codes and do not return again after driving the car for 120 miles so thanks to you guys ive got that sorted

Edited 26 June, 201214 yr by thedealsealer

Sorry. My bad. I had it in my head it was 2003.

Phil